Explosion at GPL’s plant causes blackout, damage to some customers’ equipment

An explosion at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Garden of Eden Plant, East Bank Demerara at around 15:30hrs, resulted in a temporary shutdown of the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System on Thursday.

The power outage, however, resulted in damage to some customers’ equipment. Businesswoman, Sherry Hassan, who operates a salon at Meten-Meer- Zorg on the West Coast of Demerara said that her fans are now damaged because of the fluctuation of power.

“Five of my fans that were on blow out when the light shut off. After that, we couldn’t use anything because the current [fluctuating] Hassan told the News Room.

The power appears to still be fluctuating in some parts of the country.

A notice posted to GPL’s social media page minutes after the shutdown said that an investigation is now underway.

Public Relations Officer (PRO), Shevon Sears in an invited comment, explained that the reason for the explosion is not yet clear, however, she noted that engineers suspect it may have been a result of “an old transformer” at the plant.

Engineers are currently on the ground assessing the damage.

Power to the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System has already been restored.